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American influence on Canadian culture
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The 1920's and into the 1930's was when Canada began to be more indepenant by slowly cutting ties with Britian, but lost its new found indepence by being swayed by America. Canada was influenced with its inventions, cultural trends, and economics. Canada adopted many of America's inventions into their homes, along with their cultural trends through entertainment and way of life. Also, Canada was economically dependent on America. Overall, Canada was influenced throughout the 1920's that by 1929, Canada became very similar to America.
With the good times of the 1920's, came the most astouding number of consumer inventions Canada had ever seen. From 1923 to 1929, many Canadians had full-time jobs and regular paychecks. And with the growing amount of media advertising, Canadians were swepted away with the amount of flyers and catalouges filled with new products to buy and enjoy. Though some were invented by Canadians, most came from America. Inventions such as; the Refridgerator, Air Conditioner, Washing Machine and the pop-up toaster, were in thousands of Canadian homes by 1929. As stated by Bill Bryson, “[Americans] were, for one thing, so smitten with the idea of progress that they invented things without having any idea whether those things would be of any use.” Americans invented so many things during the Booming 20's, that Canadians wee overwhelmed, but one invention revolutionized Canada forever, the automobile. The automobile was huge success in Canada, not only commerically, but its commerical mass production on assembly lines generated hundreds of jobs with good living salaries. By 1929, a large amount of Canadians families owned an automobile and close to 600 000 kilometres of roads were paved within Canada. The American...
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...oss national product dropped 40%, 30% of the labour force was out of work, one fifth of the population became dependent on government assistance and wages fell. The close trade bonds and economic reliancy made Canada go into a downward spiral of economic distress.
In conclusion, Canada was influenced throughout the 1920's by America, that by 1929 Canada became very similar to America in social trends, economics and produce. But has this stopped in modern day era? Canada continues to be heavily influenced by the amount of American products and media outpouring into Canada. Canada has made attempts throughout time to impede the onslaught of American invasion but American invasion is seen on a huge global scale. Hit movies, tv shows, products among others are generally based on American culture, views, or based within American domain. It is a reign yet to be stopped.
But today more then even Canadian culture is affected by the American influence. Media, American artists, economic dependence, American propaganda and political pressure from the United States is making Canada too Americanized. All of these factors reflect on the social life of ordinary Canadians threatening the heritage and the traditions that define Canada as independent country. Canada and the United States are the largest trade partners in the world. It is the result of the geographical position of two countries and the free trade between two countries.
World War 2 had a great impact on every aspect of Canada Today. Money became stronger, our power was at its peak and we were an independent country surpassing many countries. Canada was impacted in ways no one would have thought of. World War 2 impacted Canada Politically, Socially and Economically.
Pre-World War One, Canada was looked upon not only by foreigners, but also by Canadians, as being just a British Colony.
In conclusion Canada gained independence because of a series of events that took place during the twentieth century. If it hadn’t been for these events, Canada to this day might have been a part of the British Empire. Through discussion on the Chanak affair we signalled that we wanted autonomy. Through our hard work and lives, the world knew we had the ability to stand alone as a strong nation. While, our international reputation of being a “peacekeeping” country the right to stand as an independent self-governing nation. But finally through the Canada Act, we stood solely independent from our Empire. It is obvious that the twentieth century provided us with great chances to become an independent strong nation.
Canadians were frustrating, wonderful, and hard. Soldiers returning from the war expected jobs, but were faced with unemployment, inflation and strikes. Inflation had doubled the cost of living where wages had not and those fortunate to be employed still faced immense financial difficulty. Many people joined unions for better pay and working conditions, 1919 saw the most strikes at a staggering three hundred and six, people were angry and discontented. The 1920s were a time of crime corruption and extreme poverty, yet by mid era difficult conditions began to improve. Foreign investors gained confidence in Canada and as a result new industries were developed, The twenties really did 'roar' and with this boom of change Canada underwent the transformation that was the gateway to the future.
Canada became increasingly autonomous throughout the 1920's and 1930's. Being established officially as a nation apart from Britain certainly helped, but there were more than just official pieces of paper at play. The negotiation of the Halibut treaty was a large push towards become an autonomous nation from Britain. The final push were the seats Canada was given at various significant events.
The result of the Second World War fundamentally changed Canada and its economy started booming. There are many reasons for this change and if you remember, World War I also made a big impact on the development of Canada. However, in the next few paragraphs I will talk about how Canada gained much more respect and autonomy from the Second World War than ever before and also the change from a country into an industrialized nation.
Canada has become a superior nation thru, perseverance, courage and even care as they persevered thru many dark battles, and made sure they all came thru together as a unit other than individuals. Their courage made there fighting 100% stronger as they wouldn’t back down to any task and they weren’t afraid to lose their life to help a fellow friend and country out. Care played a major aspect in each Canadian heart. There cared about Britain so they weren’t to go help them when they declared war, they helped other troops with their emotional problems and lastly they even cared a little about there enemies as they are the same person, however the only thing separating them is there culture. Canadians contributed in many ways to help our country's great efforts in the First World War.
This aspect was something which Canadians should still be proud of to this day due to the growing number of inventions. New technologies greatly shaped the look of Canadian culture (Bain et al, 219). Canada was beginning to be recognized around the world for their identity as a country with new products (Bain et al, 219). A few of the products included radios, record players, cars, and many other forms of technology (Bain et al, 219). Especially in the 1950’s, Canadians fell in love with cars, buying 3.5 million of them during that year (Bain et al. 217). By the end of the 1950’s, 66% of families owned a car, with 10% owning more than one (Armstrong et al,137). This led to families being expected to take a yearly vacation (Bain et al. 216). This meant that local businesses like hotels, and stores were also benefitting from this cause as more people were visiting their businesses. All these new items made Canadians happy and they also massively contributed to the economy. Many Canadians bought new homes as well which came along with flooring, appliances, furnitures and televisions (Armstrong et al. 136). It was evident that Canada was beginning to become a modern, urbanized country with the addition of housing. Televisions also played a big role in the development of Canadians. The first television set appeared in 1952, and by the end of the 1950’s, 90% of Canadians owned a TV (Armstrong et al. 137).
The Great Depression was a terrible point in Canadian history, and for most of the world. It was a point in time where thousands of people lost their jobs, and even lost their homes because of the depressed economy. Business was booming in the early 1920s, but when companies tried to expand, and therefore issued stocks, the economy was thrown off. Some investors sold their stocks for high prices, and as a result, everyone else followed. With less of a demand, stock prices became fractions of what they used to be, and on October 29, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, followed by the Toronto and Montreal Stock exchanges. This collapse of the stock markets caused a depression like which the world had never seen before. It was important for governments to find methods to deal with the depression, but the Canadian government wasn't very successful in its attempts to deal with the Great Depression.
Canada filled and changed the world with new technologies and new with its early inventions in 1914 to 1935. Firstly, Guglielmo Marconi invented the first radio. When he improved this invention, it changed the lives of many people in Canada and the world. (Newman, 177) People would use the radio when doing house work, to be more relaxed or to simply waste time. This is significant because Canadians thought it was very impressive. Soon the world started using it and it shows that Canada is advancing above every other country in the 20th century. Secondly, in October 1920, Dr. Frederick G. had a great idea to produce insulin to treat diabetes, and when he succeeded, he improved the living of Canadians through science and technology. When the insulin was first used in a fourteen-year old boy who obtained diabetes, the insulin worked to help his disease. When it worked, hundreds of diabetes came to Toronto to be treated after hearin...
The post-war time was a period where major changes were occurring. After being involved in two international conflicts, Canada was ready to reestablish their economy. During this time, Canada had started working on ways to become stronger and reputable. It is evident that Canada had matured through the post-war era. Canada’s economic progress left a positive impact on the growth of the country as consumerism became popular, and economic ties with America became stronger. Moreover, the removal of racial and ethical barriers contributed to Canadian social affairs such as the huge wave of immigration and the baby boom. The Canadian government also had become more aware and involved in issues impacting Canadian citizens. Canada as a whole started identifying itself as an independent nation and participating in events that brought a positive reputation amongst them. These economical, social, and legal changes helped Canada mature into the country it is today.
In the last 20 years the penetration of the Canadian market by American cultural industries is still extremely strong. The United States is still the main source of culture products. American products represent 81% of all culture commodity imports. Canadians watch American TV shows, listen to American music, love American sports teams, drive American cars and buy American goods at American stores like Walmart. They eat American food, drink American beer (sometimes).
Many Canadians thought the depression was brought about by the wheat crop crash and not the stock market crash because many Canadians and farmers were dependent on the growth of wheat because it made up a majority of their exports, but seeing as the wheat provinces were hit with a severe drought the wheat crops crashed leaving many farmers out of jobs and money, causing a great affect on Canada. The causes of the great depression were due to over-production and over-expansion because Canadian companies expanded their industries of goods so that they could generate more profits. Yet economic activity shrank in the late 20’s and companies were left with a heavier debt and lack of...
The 1920's were a time where North America became modernized. Whether it was the music, the culture or the growth in technology, this time era is known to most people as the point where America advanced itself to become a world renowned country. An advancement that will be focused on is the Ford Model T. During this time owning a car was a symbol of wealth. Henry Ford, the creator of the Model T, made a system that revolutionized the automobile industry as we know it today. Henry Ford made it possible for people with an average income to own a motor vehicle by creating the assembly line and the theory of mass production. "The horse, which had been the chief means of land transportation for 3,500 years, had given way to the automobile, and the country's largest industry had been born." (Gordon)